Preservation Society hopes to salvage Searcy House

Tuscaloosa County BOE to sell historic house on July 17

The Searcy House, the former Tuscaloosa County Board of Education building, is seen on Greensboro Avenue in Tuscaloosa. The building will be sold to the highest bidder on July 17.

Dusty Compton | Tuscaloosa News

By Jason MortonStaff Writer

Published: Monday, July 1, 2013 at 3:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, June 30, 2013 at 11:31 p.m.

TUSCALOOSA | As the sale of the Tuscaloosa County Board of Education's former downtown offices nears, a groundswell of preservationist support is mounting to save one historic house.

The Searcy House, built in 1904, is one of two structures in the 700 block of Greensboro Avenue that is expected to go up for auction at 2 p.m. on July 17.

County school officials said they have heard rumblings of interest from potential purchasers, including nearby churches and real estate agents.

But the Tuscaloosa County Preservation Society is leading an effort of local historic and neighborhood protection groups to raise enough awareness of the sale so that a benefactor will step forward and purchase the property instead.

“When cities and towns lose their historic buildings, they may not realize it now, but 20 years down the road there's a real sense of lost place and lost history,” said Katherine Richter, executive director of the preservation society. “A community loses a sense of who it is, how it came to be and how it got to where we are now.”

While Richter said the society would prefer to purchase the home, it lacks the funds to meet the minimum $600,000 that the county Board of Education will accept for the

property.

Ray Ward, attorney for the county school board, said the lot where the county schools' headquarters were once housed — the land, the Searcy house and the 1930s-era building that fronted onto Ninth Street — recently appraised for this value and the board has indicated it will accept nothing less.

The school system hopes to get more than $600,000, of course, to offset the costs associated with relocating to the former federal courthouse building and renovating it for the board's purposes.

“If we don't get the appraised value, we have to go back to square one,” Ward said.

Ward confirmed that several parties have expressed interest in the land, including First Baptist Church, located across Eighth Street from the Searcy House, and Tuscaloosa-area Realtors.

One of those interested even asked the county schools to sell the property without the public's knowledge, but Ward said the county board members believed it would be best to sell the land publicly.

Officials for First Baptist Church of Tuscaloosa could not be reached for comment, but those with First United Methodist Church of Tuscaloosa said the notion of purchasing the lot has not come before the church's trustees.

Regardless of who brings the highest bid, Richter and her fellow preservationists are hopeful the historic home will be saved.

Listed this year on the annual “Places in Peril” list compiled by the Alabama Historical Commission and the Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation, the Searcy House is one of the few surviving buildings in Tuscaloosa that date to the early 20th century.

According to late historian Marvin Harper, the house was one of the first large houses built at a time when Tuscaloosa was more socially and financially active.

The house was constructed in the neo-revival style of architecture by George Searcy, a prominent Tuscaloosa businessman. It once featured six white, large fluted ionic columns in the front, which are now missing, but it also contains a cylindrical spiral staircase constructed in 1840 that was salvaged from the E.N.C. Snow House, which once sat on the site of the present Tuscaloosa County Courthouse.

The Snow staircase was moved during the Searcy House's renovation in 1986 by the Board of Education. In addition to creating office space for the board's needs, the renovation also served to restore and protect many of the Searcy House's original features, such as the mantels, the large decorative window on the second floor, the leaded glass windows and the usable pocket doors.

Richter said the costs to repair the visible exterior damage has been exaggerated and that a new roof will solve many of the problems. With a new roof in place, the water damage to the exterior can be corrected.

“We have control over this,” Richter said. “This is a building we don't have to lose. It's important to the history of Tuscaloosa. It's important to the history of downtown.”

<p>TUSCALOOSA | As the sale of the Tuscaloosa County Board of Education's former downtown offices nears, a groundswell of preservationist support is mounting to save one historic house.</p><p>The Searcy House, built in 1904, is one of two structures in the 700 block of Greensboro Avenue that is expected to go up for auction at 2 p.m. on July 17.</p><p>County school officials said they have heard rumblings of interest from potential purchasers, including nearby churches and real estate agents.</p><p>But the Tuscaloosa County Preservation Society is leading an effort of local historic and neighborhood protection groups to raise enough awareness of the sale so that a benefactor will step forward and purchase the property instead.</p><p>“When cities and towns lose their historic buildings, they may not realize it now, but 20 years down the road there's a real sense of lost place and lost history,” said Katherine Richter, executive director of the preservation society. “A community loses a sense of who it is, how it came to be and how it got to where we are now.”</p><p>While Richter said the society would prefer to purchase the home, it lacks the funds to meet the minimum $600,000 that the county Board of Education will accept for the </p><p>property.</p><p>Ray Ward, attorney for the county school board, said the lot where the county schools' headquarters were once housed — the land, the Searcy house and the 1930s-era building that fronted onto Ninth Street — recently appraised for this value and the board has indicated it will accept nothing less.</p><p>The school system hopes to get more than $600,000, of course, to offset the costs associated with relocating to the former federal courthouse building and renovating it for the board's purposes.</p><p>“If we don't get the appraised value, we have to go back to square one,” Ward said.</p><p>Ward confirmed that several parties have expressed interest in the land, including First Baptist Church, located across Eighth Street from the Searcy House, and Tuscaloosa-area Realtors.</p><p>One of those interested even asked the county schools to sell the property without the public's knowledge, but Ward said the county board members believed it would be best to sell the land publicly.</p><p>Officials for First Baptist Church of Tuscaloosa could not be reached for comment, but those with First United Methodist Church of Tuscaloosa said the notion of purchasing the lot has not come before the church's trustees.</p><p>Regardless of who brings the highest bid, Richter and her fellow preservationists are hopeful the historic home will be saved.</p><p>Listed this year on the annual “Places in Peril” list compiled by the Alabama Historical Commission and the Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation, the Searcy House is one of the few surviving buildings in Tuscaloosa that date to the early 20th century.</p><p>According to late historian Marvin Harper, the house was one of the first large houses built at a time when Tuscaloosa was more socially and financially active.</p><p>The house was constructed in the neo-revival style of architecture by George Searcy, a prominent Tuscaloosa businessman. It once featured six white, large fluted ionic columns in the front, which are now missing, but it also contains a cylindrical spiral staircase constructed in 1840 that was salvaged from the E.N.C. Snow House, which once sat on the site of the present Tuscaloosa County Courthouse.</p><p>The Snow staircase was moved during the Searcy House's renovation in 1986 by the Board of Education. In addition to creating office space for the board's needs, the renovation also served to restore and protect many of the Searcy House's original features, such as the mantels, the large decorative window on the second floor, the leaded glass windows and the usable pocket doors.</p><p>Richter said the costs to repair the visible exterior damage has been exaggerated and that a new roof will solve many of the problems. With a new roof in place, the water damage to the exterior can be corrected.</p><p>“We have control over this,” Richter said. “This is a building we don't have to lose. It's important to the history of Tuscaloosa. It's important to the history of downtown.”</p><p>“And whenever it's gone, it's gone — and there's no getting it back.”</p><p>Reach Jason Morton at jason.morton@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0200.</p>